Farmington Hills, Michigan (May 23, 2014) – One of the key challenges in today’s commercial real estate market is developing and training the “next generation” of real estate brokerage professionals. Many recent surveys put the average age of real estate professionals nationwide at 57. If you look around the Metro-Detroit market, many of the agent names on commercial real estate signs have been the same for the past 15-20 years. Of course, this means there are a lot of established, experienced real estate professionals in the market. But, as time marches on, and as veteran agents and brokers retire or scale back their workload, are there enough young brokers to carry the torch? It is a question that many commercial brokerage firms are asking.
Gary Goodman, Managing Director of Brokerage Services at Michigan-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions, is on a mission to get ahead of the turnover. “We’ve been working diligently on this for the past few years,” says Goodman. “We did not want to wake up one day and realize the wave had passed us by.” Goodman developed a mentoring and training program to attract individuals to the industry and to Friedman. Last week, Friedman hosted an off-site Career Night to meet and greet a new group of candidates for the mentoring and training program, while at the same time educating them about a career in commercial real estate.
Goodman and his team identify candidates with the characteristics that best match the traits of Friedman’s most successful brokers. “We currently have eight (8) new Next Gen team members mentoring in our system. They are learning the business the right way, working with veteran senior mentors to gain market knowledge and real world experience, while learning the technical aspects of the business to best serve our client’s needs,” explains Goodman. “Our Next Generation brokers clearly understand that they are the future of commercial real estate in our market, and are out to prove to us and to our clients that they are going to work harder and smarter than anyone else. Their energy is amazing.”
Smart, tech savvy, and dynamic, the Next Gen group meets regularly to strategize on new business development, and to learn how to serve their clients using the myriad of tools that Friedman has to offer. While Friedman embraces the use of today’s modern marketing tools and technology, the primary focus of Next Gen training is about creating lasting relationships with clients. “Our team is never going to sit and wait for the phone to ring. Their core mission is to be in front of clients and potential clients. They are actively engaged every single day setting meetings with new companies and individuals. Nothing can replace face-time…and I don’t mean the iPhone kind,” adds Goodman.
Last year, Friedman opened a full-time satellite office in the thriving Central Business District of downtown Detroit, giving their brokers the exciting opportunity to be fully immersed in the revitalization of the city. In addition, Friedman operates a Troy satellite, and has offices in Columbus, OH, Phoenix, AZ, and Boca Raton, FL.
“The recruiting, mentoring, and training initiative is an investment of time, energy, and resources, but it has certainly paid off,” says David Friedman, President and CEO. “We’ve been in business almost 30 years, and by focusing on our current and Next Gen team, we are ensuring that we are setup for continued success.”
ABOUT FRIEDMAN INTEGRATED REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS
Recognized as one of the largest privately-held commercial real estate organizations in the nation, Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions provides clients with a single point of contact for the full range of services it offers.
Friedman manages over 140 facilities encompassing more than 16M SF of commercial and 7,000 multi-family units across the country. Friedman’s brokerage team has over 800 current listings with $10 billion in closed transactions. As owners and managers of commercial property for over 25 years, Friedman understands what it takes to achieve results that maximize the client’s objectives.
For more information, please visit: www.friedmanrealestate.com.
